the bitter root held up its colored bowls to 

 catch the sunbeams. 



The Indians took a practical interest in the 

 plant, for they knew that its thick, starchy 

 roots could furnish food. When their brown 

 covering is removed and the fleshy part dried, 

 these roots will dissolve in water almost like 

 pure starch, and when heated become a nu- 

 tritious paste. This value was sufficient to give 

 the plant great importance in the eyes of the 

 savages, and they named the near-by moun- 

 tains and river after it. 



What stirring incidents of pioneer days the 

 bitter root may have witnessed we do not 

 know. Gradually its old friends, the Selish 

 Indians, were replaced by white settlers, and 

 the lovable flower seems to have had no diffi- 

 culty in winning the hearts of the newcomers. 

 Meantime mining strikes, boom towns, cow- 

 punchers, Vigilantes, built the generous, ro- 

 mantic, picturesque structure of Montana's 

 early history, which was crowned in 1889 with 

 statehood. It was not until 1895 that the citi- 

 zens of the Commonwealth found time from 

 developing the abundant resources of the 

 Treasure State to choose a State flower ; when 

 they did so, by legislative resolution they voiced 

 their affection for this eager-faced, native blos- 

 som — the bitter root. 



Of course, the habitat of Lewisia rediviva is 

 not confined to the valley it has named, nor to 

 the State of Montana. The visitor to Yellow- 

 stone may find an occasional specimen, al- 

 though it is rare within the limits of the park. 

 It is naturally most plentiful in dry, sandy, or 

 gravelly soil, such as may be found along the 

 Lewis and Bitter Root rivers. 



Nuttall, in 1834, said of it : "This curious 

 plant constitutes a very distinct natural order," 

 and decided that it was most nearly related to 

 the cactus family. The flower he describes as 

 "very large, wholly like that of the cactus, rose 

 red." Since, however, botanists have classified 

 the bitter root as allied to the purslane family, 

 Portnlacaceae. Its resemblance to the gay gar- 

 den portulaca, a native of the hot plains of 

 southern Brazil, is apparent; but it is not so 

 easy to connect it with that persistent weed, 

 the common purslane, which the farmer has 

 condemned by his forceful comparison, "As 

 mean as pusley !" 



The bitter root's relations, poor or otherwise, 

 are of no importance in the eyes of the Mon- 

 tanan, who cares only that it was found rooted 

 in the soil and has made itself inseparable 

 from the history of his wonderful country. 



THE ORANGE BLOSSOM 



(Citrus sinensis Osbeck) 



Who that has seen loved ones given in mar- 

 riage, with the orange blossoms lending the 

 touch of their beauty to the bride, can help but 

 sympathize with the sentiments of Florida's 

 legislators when they enacted into law the 

 State's affection for the flower of its favorite 

 fruit? And while the orange blossom is ad- 

 mired and honored bv its association with the 



bridal hour, the fruit is known wherever men 

 and women who love good things to eat fore- 

 gather (see page 504). 



While the orange is not native to America, 

 being in reality a comparatively recent immi- 

 grant, there are more orange trees in the: 

 United States than in any other part of the 

 world. Fourteen million trees were growing - 

 in this country in 1909, two for every thirteen 

 people. Of these, Florida had nearly three- 

 million, while most of the others were in 

 California. 



The orange appears to have originated in 

 China and the Burmese Peninsula. Thence it 

 was carried to India and Hindustan. There 

 the Arabs met it, fancied it, and gave it a foot- 

 ing in Mesopotamia at the beginning of the- 

 tenth century. From Asia it was introduced 

 into northern Africa and Spain, traveling with, 

 the conquering armies of Islam. It journeyed 

 with the Spaniards from Europe to South. 

 America, where it was found by missionaries- 

 from this country, who sent some small trees 

 to Florida and California. These took root, 

 thrived, and straightway the American orange- 

 became one of our chief blessings. 



In favorable seasons and in well-kept 

 groves, trees bear from 400 to 1,000 oranges 

 each. Being slow in reaching maturity, they 

 are slow also in giving up their privilege of 

 producing their golden fruit. Carefully tended 

 trees usually yield for fifty years, and some 

 are productive for eighty years. Occasionally 

 a sturdy centenarian is found bearing fruit in 

 abundance ; but so great has been the improve- 

 ment of the orange under modern methods of 

 plant-breeding that the product of these hardy 

 old trees seems bitter and unpalatable, although, 

 it may have delighted ten thousand feasters in 

 its day. 



Those who have not been privileged to visit 

 an orangery and there taste the nature- 

 ripened fruit in all its golden lusciousness can- 

 not know fully how delicious an orange may 

 be. The orange that goes to market and must 

 wait weeks before it can get out of the hands, 

 of the retailer and into those of the consumer 

 is packed before it is ripe, and few fruits gath- 

 ered unripe can ever be as delicious as those: 

 which have hung on the spit of the twig and. 

 toasted to a proper flavor before the sun. 



The orange tree is an evergreen, and culti- 

 vated varieties seldom exceed 30 feet in height. 

 Blossoms, green oranges, and ripe fruit are 

 often seen on the same tree, but usually the 

 trees bloom in the spring and ripen their fruit 

 in the fall. The oily, acrid peel of the orange 

 is an effective means which Nature employs to 

 seal up her packages of fruit. The germ or 

 the insect that could break through a healthy 

 orange skin would be a brave and persistent, 

 creature. 



THE SYRINGA 



(Philadelphus lewisii Pursh) 



The queen of Idaho's wild flower garden 

 is by unanimous acclaim the modest syringa,. 

 Philadelphus lewisii, which is limited in its. 



490 



